Hudson Elementary

As a middle-of-the-pack elementary campus in Hudson, North Carolina, Hudson Elementary instructs 665 students from grades pre-K through 5, one of the schools within Caldwell County Schools. Enrollment runs roughly 42% larger than the state mean of about 467.

Caldwell County Schools runs 25 schools in total, collectively educating 10,667 students. Hudson Elementary is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Hudson Elementary reports that White students make up the majority at 76%. Beyond that, the school shows 13% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 3% Black. By comparison, Caldwell County as a whole is about 86% White, so the school skews considerably less White than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Hudson Elementary has 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 19.5:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 14.9:1, putting Hudson Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 97% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

With demographic context factored in, Hudson Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 49.2%, the actual is 59.8%, a residual of +10.6 points.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Caldwell County) records that the typical household earns roughly $56,425 per year, roughly 19% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. Hudson Elementary is one of 26 public schools in Caldwell County (combined enrollment of about 10,920 students).

Nearest neighbor: Hudson Middle, around 0.2 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Hudson Elementary at 5th of 9; the average score across the group is 59.0%.

The campus sits in a residential setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 10%: 740 students in 2018 compared to 665 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 84% to 76% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio grew from 15.0:1 in 2018 to 19.5:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.